Celestia, Princess of the Sun, gazed out her window, past Canterlot and past the entirety of Equestria, the kingdom she was doomed to rule alone. She gazed out to the Moon – the source of her greatest salvation and also her greatest mistake, as it drifted its lone course across the sky under her careful control. This was more out of habit than actual necessity. Once the Moon had been set on its due course for the night, it would follow its path until it was time to make way for the Sun, come morning. It was as though some childish fear made the wise immortal being believe the huge lunar rock might disappear if she weren’t careful.
Celestia closed her eyes, envisioning the pony she had imprisoned there nearly a millennium ago – the one she was truly fearful would disappear.
A light tapping on her door broke the princess from her stupor. This section of the castle was closed off by guards, allowing privacy in the row of royal bedchambers it contained. Normally the adjacent rooms would contain the Princess of the Night and the Princess of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence, as she preferred to be called. However Cadence insisted on living out the rest of her young years with her adoptive family, pursuing a normal life for as long as she could, and Luna…
So, there was only one more possible visitor.
“You may enter, Twilight Sparkle.”
The young filly entered the room, sheepishly, shuffling her hooves and looking at the floor.
“Is there something wrong?” Celestia asked, patiently, hiding a bit of amusement.
Twilight shook her head vigorously. “Of course not, Princess! I guess…” She blushed. “I’m just so excited to be in the castle and to have the opportunity to be your personal student. I can’t seem to sleep. I want to start learning everything about magic right away!”
Celestia chuckled at her student’s enthusiasm, and gestured for her to lie down next to her. The filly hesitated at first, seeming to debate the rudeness of approaching a princess in such a casual manner as opposed to ignoring her, and, deciding the former was more appropriate, finally obeyed.
“It is important that we take our time, Twilight, so we can savor the times when things are peaceful like this.” Celestia explained, looking back towards the moon. “You should take this time to make friends, those who can support you when you truly are in need.” She looked back towards her young apprentice.
Twilight pouted, childishly. “You sound like my brother. I don’t want to make friends; I just want to learn about magic! I don’t want anything to get in the way of my studies.”
“You should learn to listen to your brother’s advice. After all, he might not always be there to give it.”
Twilight seemed to listen to this, her eyes becoming wide with disbelief. “Shiny will always be there for me.”
Celestia had no doubt of this. From what she knew about Shining Armor, he was a dedicated older brother, and was training to become a member of the Royal Guard, someone which she herself would one day depend on. If he even had half the tenacity of his younger sister, she wouldn’t be surprised if he became a Captain of the Royal Guard. Even so, life always took unexpected turns, too great for even an immortal, such as herself, to fully comprehend.
“Why don’t I tell you a story, to help you fall asleep?” The Princess offered.
Twilight was taken aback, at first, but quickly nodded, obviously eager for any iota of information the Princess could offer her.
Celestia cleared her throat. “A long time ago, in this very kingdom, there was not one princess raising both the Sun and the Moon, but two. The princesses were sisters: the elder controlled the Sun, and brought the day, and the younger controlled the moon and brought the night.”
“Like how you do by yourself?” Twilight asked. “Why did they need two princesses to do it?”
“It was not that it needed to be done that way. It was simply a…happier arrangement. The two sisters wanted to rule together. It made for a less lonely existence.” Celestia explained. “Understand?”
Twilight nodded, though she still looked confused.
“Could you not still study magic if you didn’t have the support of your brother?”
Her student seemed to understand this better, her already large eyes widening with realization.
“The two sisters supported each other in the same way that you and Shining Armor support each other. They ruled together, happily, for centuries, facing many challenges. However, the biggest challenge they could have to overcome was one another.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight questioned. “I thought they loved each other.”
“They did.” Celestia smiled, drifting back through time, before she was pulled back into the present with a small sigh. “But love isn’t always enough, my faithful student. The Sun Princess was taken with the love the subjects had for her and the plentiful daylight she brought, and was blinded to the plight of her own sister. The Moon Princess sought desperately the love of the subjects who were also her own, but the ponies slept through the night she worked so hard to create, and shunned her.
“As the years passed, the younger sister became more and more bitter, resenting the sister she loved for being so well beloved while the Night and its Princess were cast aside. Before the elder sister knew what was happening, the younger had become twisted inside. She wanted to make an everlasting night, and shroud the ponies of Equestria in the darkness they had neglected to appreciate.
Twilight gasped through a tired yawn. “She became evil?”
Celestia shook her head. “Not evil. It’s true that the things she did were not of sound morals, but she was not evil. She was misguided, and neglected by those she needed most.”
“And it was because of this that she refused to lower the Moon, no matter how much her sister pleaded. And so, a vicious battle began between the two sisters, raging for days. The Sun Princess tried as she might to change the Moon Princess’s mind, and bring back the sister she loved, but it was too late. The sister had been transformed, and was no longer her little sister, but the relentless embodiment of years of jealousy and resentment. She had become Nightmare Moon.
“The Sun Princess soon realized that she would have no choice but to wield the most powerful magic known to ponykind if she had any hope to stop Nightmare Moon: the Elements of Harmony. However she was not powerful enough alone to use their power to restore harmony to the younger princess’s heart, and regain her sister. Her only choice was to use their power to seal her in the Moon, imprisoning her for a thousand years.
“The Sun Princess never forgot the lesson she learned. If she had only offered the sister her friendship, and noticed her struggle, she may not have been corrupted. And so, she is left alone, the sole immortal being, forced to feel the loneliness her sister must have felt, patiently awaiting the day they may be reunited again.”
Celestia finished her story. “Have you learned anything from my story, Twilight?” She glanced down towards the filly, only to realize she had already fallen asleep, snuggled comfortably against her princess’s side. She had such hope for the little pony, that she might one day wield the power she now held with the modesty and care she had not possessed until it was too late. Twilight had the strength and potential of someone much greater than herself, and it was her job to shape that raw material into something beautiful, and deserving.
Celestia smiled fondly, wrapping the filly in her ethereal tail, and resting her own head on her hooves, settling in for sleep.
“Goodnight, my faithful student.”
Goodnight, my sister.
“Sister. Are you there, sister?”
Celestia turned her gaze from the countless stained glass windows, each depicting a different memory from the past, lining the halls of the Canterlot Castle. Luna approached her, her serious eyes shifting between her sister and the window she currently stood before, showing Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the current bearers of the Elements of Harmony, defeating Nightmare Moon, and freeing Luna from her millennia-long curse.
“I see…” Luna placed a hoof on the glass, glaring at the image of the corrupted pony she once was. “Dost thou fear that we…” She still occasionally caught herself using outdated formal speak and the royal we, but she quickly caught herself. “I mean – do you fear that I will become her again…Nightmare Moon?”
Celestia shook her head. “Of course not.”
“Then why have you secluded yourself here, surrounded by such…unsavory memories?” She asked, wrinkling her snout in distaste. “Should you not be out with the others, celebrating Twilight Sparkle’s coronation, dear sister?”
“I suppose you’re right, Luna.” Celestia smiled. “Though, I don’t think of these memories as ‘unsavory’. They are a part of the past that brought you back to me. No matter how painful those years without you were, I know that you have suffered more for my faults, and I learned an important lesson about friendship. Something I have now passed on to my faithful student. It seems as though there is a new beginning, the end of our era is coming…”
Luna nodded in agreement. “We can only hope that she has learned well from our mistakes, and will rule Equestria accordingly.”
“Don’t worry…she will. That much I know.”